Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Rainbow Stardust (OLD)

Chapter 3: To Win A Turbo Duel

When I awoke, the sun had risen for what seemed to be quite a while. I felt woozy and strange, and no one was at the hideout, or at the very least inside the tent, when I woke up. Yusei must've been finishing up the final tune-ups on his Runner. I imagined Rally and the others were working or doing their own thing...

...until I remembered that Sector Security had found us and chased us down the last time I was awake. With invigorating fear, I stumbled out of the couch I had been sleeping in (why was I asleep?!) and scrambled out of the tent, panicked.

"Yusei?! Rally?! Nervin? Hello?!" My high-pitched calls echoed down the tunnels, and I could've probably been heard from a mile away. I wondered why I wasn't in prison, or why I was left at the hideout while no one else was there.

No one else was there.

My fear grew with every passing second of silence in response to my calls. I couldn't see anyone around, but the place looked normal. I was alone.

Why was I alone? I couldn't be alone. I wasn't strong enough to survive on my own. I wanted my friends. I needed my friends. I had to find them, I had to do something. I couldn't be here alone forever--!

I heard a voice calling me, but it wasn't familiar, so I ignored it. I needed to find my friends.

"Blitz! Tank!? Rally? Hello?!" I kept calling, and no one answered. It went on like this for several minutes. I was too afraid to go up to the surface, where I'd been attacked the last time I went, so I stayed on the same platform, desperately calling my friends' names, to prove I'd remembered them. To prove I cared about them.

I did. I really, really did. And their silence was deafeningly frightening to me, to the point I nearly began to break down in tears.

It was lucky, then, that before I started just straight-up sobbing that I heard Yusei's Runner come back from his run. (He was doing a test run at a time like this?!)

When he parked, he saw that I was awake and standing on the platform, shocked to see him. He propped his Runner to stand on its kickstand and ran up the stairs to meet me.

"Sylvia!" He hadn't even taken off his helmet. Was he surprised to see me awake? He lifted his visor and grabbed me by the shoulders. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? How're you feeling?" Before he gave me a chance to respond, he swiftly pulled his gloves off and reached behind my bangs to feel my forehead, checking my temperature. He used his other hand to compare it to his own forehead. "You don't look sick anymore... Have you eaten anything?"

I was so confused. Why was he checking my temperature? I didn't look sick "anymore"? Was I sick?

I wanted to back away and get his hand off my face, but the feeling of realness I got from it kept me grounded. Still, Yusei pulled away when he determined I had no fever. I tried to say something, but I couldn't bring myself to ask my millions of questions. Yusei spoke instead.

"Rally and the others told me you collapsed while you were running away," he explained. "I got Sector Security off our back, but the guys came back and you were just out cold, for no apparent reason. We've been taking turns looking after you since then."

Sector Security was gone? We weren't in danger anymore? Everyone was okay...?

My hands hovered over my heart and I let out a shaky breath. "...t-thank goodness... everyone's safe..."

"We don't know that for sure," Yusei said seriously.

I stiffened. "D... d-did someone get hurt...?"

Yusei stared at me like I'd just said the weirdest thing in the world. "What're you talking about? You got sick, somehow. You didn't wake up for four days; we were scared for your life!"